The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Washington Irving, 1820

When he entered the house, the conquest of his heart was complete. It was one of those spacious farmhouses, with highridged but lowly sloping roofs, built in the style handed down from the first Dutch settlers; the low projecting eaves forming a piazza along the front, capable of being closed up in bad weather. Under this were hung flails, harness, various utensils of husbandry, and nets for fishing in the neighboring river. Benches were built along the sides for summer use; and a great spinning-wheel at one end, and a churn at the other, showed the various uses to which this important porch might be devoted. From this piazza the wondering Ichabod entered the hall, which formed the centre of the mansion, and the place of usual residence. Here rows of resplendent pewter, ranged on a long dresser, dazzled his eyes. In one corner stood a huge bag of wool, ready to be spun; in another, a quantity of linsey-woolsey just from the loom; ears of Indian corn, and strings of dried apples and peaches, hung in gay festoons along the walls, mingled with the gaud of red peppers; and a door left ajar gave him a peep into the best parlor, where the claw-footed chairs and dark mahogany tables shone like mirrors; andirons, with their accompanying shovel and tongs, glistened from their covert of asparagus tops; mock oranges and conch shells decorated the mantelpiece; strings of various-colored birds eggs were suspended above it; a great ostrich egg was hung from the centre of the room, and a corner cupboard, knowingly left open, displayed immense treasures of old silver and well-mended china.

1984
George Orwell
Get your free eBook now!
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Get your free eBook now!
Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë
Get your free eBook now!
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Get your free eBook now!
Grimms’ Fairy Tales
The Brothers Grimm
Get your free eBook now!
Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
Get your free eBook now!
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
Get your free eBook now!
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë
Get your free eBook now!
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
Get your free eBook now!
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
Get your free eBook now!
Tender is the Night
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Get your free eBook now!